Um Hello?
by koffeebeans
Summary: Lance honestly should have seen this coming. He blamed Pidge. Aka, where Lance saw his ex in a shop, hid behind a counter and flirted with Not-Takashi in that order.


Lance honestly should have seen this coming. He blamed Pidge, they were a terrible influence on him… although they did get Hunk to drag him out of their dorm to stop brooding.

Pidge hadn't exactly used brooding but that was what Lance was sticking with.

But still, Lance stood by what he said- he blamed Pidge and not just because Hunk was an angel who didn't deserve blame.

But it was still predictable- him standing in the clothes section of a store in a mall, feet nailed to the spot, staring at his ex. The very same ex that had him holed up in his dorm brooding when they didn't have classes after she broke up with him and made him eat all Pidge's ice cream supply. They were not happy about their own comfort food being eaten but knew better than to push on a sensitive subject like this.

Nyma laughed and swung her blonde hair over her shoulder with a swipe of her hand. The motion went by unnoticed by most as she did it but Lance had always found it cute and endearing.

She looked really good, so much so that Lance felt a twinge in his stomach. How could she be out laughing with friends only a week after what happened? Did he mean nothing, only another thing to throw away and get over.

Like really good. Her light skin stood out against her dark roots from where she must have left it undyed for a few weeks. He used to plait small braids into her hair, feeling the soft strands between his fingers as she would talk on the phone to one of her friends, It was a good thing they had. She covered her mouth with a manicured hand as she laughed at something Rolo had said… wait, Rolo?

Lance felt his face drop as she turned her head slightly towards him. He tried to move his feet but they seemed nailed to the floor. What was she even doing here?

Lance scoffed bitterly at the thought of Rolo. That asshole.

The thought of the ass that had kissed Plaxum at the party last month, telling her that a football jock was all she needed. When Plaxum refused him none so gently he quite literally turned his nose up and walked off. Shay had been concerned for Plaxum, after all, he made threats to make her regret it.

Now, if that wasn't bad, he had convinced Nyma that the jock's girlfriend was a good life for college. Rolo (who had been known for dumping girlfriends within a day or two, and no, Lance didn't care) had taken Nyma away from the group.

Lance would just finish shopping and leave before she saw him, yeah. That's what he'd do.

No, Nyma was turning and walking over to this side of the store.

Lance threw the jeans he had in his hand back onto the shelf and jumped behind the first thing he saw. The counter slammed against his back as he steadied himself against it.

After about five seconds he heard footsteps walk up to the counter. "Should I get red or pink lipstick?"

"Definitely pink. It looks good on you," he heard Rolo say, and yeah. He had to agree on that one. Nyma's colour was pink, or purple. Purple really brought her eyes out and complimented her tone.

"Yeah, I think so too." Lance could almost see her nodding in agreement. Her voice sounded the same as it always did. It was like honey, Nyma loved honey. Lance's heart ached.

No, he was supposed to be getting over her! She ditched him for Rolo and left him in the dust… or in his dorm eating Pidge's ice cream. Lance flinched. Ok, reminder to buy them more later.

He heard the footsteps travelling back into the store.

A breath Lance never knew he was holding escaped his lungs. He gripped his upper arms in his hands and sighed. Why was she here? What was she doing?

"Um… hello?"

Lance jumped and his head darted up towards a figure. Said figure was staring down at him with a confused expresion. Siad figure was kinda cute. Cute face, like really cute, especially with the confusion mixed onto his face. Lance didnt care that his eyes wandered briefly over the guy. He had a good figure, as in probably went to the gym even though he didn't top the employee Shiro that worked here but in a good way, fluffy dark hair that looked really soft and… wait! Was that a mullet?!

Okay! He took it all back.

Lance glared up at the totally-not-hot-anymore stranger. "Hello."

The Stranger raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. Lance crossed his arms too, which was probably not as intimidating as planned because he was still sitting on the floor behind the counter. A counter with a till…

The stranger's face smirked as realisation drew over Lance's face. He was behind the till.

The stranger was an employee.

Lance jumped to his feet in less than a second and glanced around for any sign of Nyma. None. "Yep, hiding from people, you know how it is," he said, looking back to the stranger's grey-almost-purple eyes. What the hell? How was that a colour?

The stranger reddened in the face, and it looked like he was trying pretty hard to hold eye contact. "It… just is?"

Oh. He had said that out loud. Now it was Lance's turn to go red.

"Um- yeah. It's- a unique colour… purple."

"Yeah," the stranger said, looking back to the store. Luckily for them, Altean Designs didn't get much people shopping early on a Saturday when most students would be still sleeping, but Lance had strange friends who insisted moaning about a breakup and eating all the ice cream was a bad thing that needed to stop. He was perfectly fine.

Lance cleared his throat, moving out from behind the counter. "So, I uh, I don't usually see you working here?" Lance looked down at the name tag. Takashi Shirogane.

Wait, this wasn't Shiro.

Takashi(?) nodded, "Yeah, I'm covering for my brother. He's on a date with the designer." Takashi smirked in a way that made Lance think there was more to the story. "Finally asked her out, and I've gotta say I'm proud of him."

Lance nodded. Fair, he had been through his round of pride for Hunk and Shay, but this… Shiro was odd. And definitely not the usual Shiro that worked here.

"Okay, what's with the name tag because you're not Shiro."

Takashi looked at him shocked for a second, and then to the name tag. "You don't say." Lance waited a moment, and then started laughing, but Takashi had finally been waiting long enough for Lance to stop so he spoke instead. "Shiro is my brother. I had to borrow his tag to clock him in because I don't usually work here."

Lance smiled, relieved that this wasn't an imposter. A mullet playing Shiro? No way. Wait, then what was his name?

Lance started, "The name's Lance."

Not-Takashi smiled, "Keith."

Lance couldn't help but return the smile, getting the feeling that this Keith didn't smile all that much. To Lance, Keith had always sounded like a surfer name. Guy with sandy locks and surfed the waves, not an emo with dark mullet.

"Well, see ya around Keith!" Lance shot a fingergun at Keith and took pride in the way Keith rolled his eyes. His charms were the best, and this Keith didn't know what he was in for.

Lance walked out into the mall and stopped to put his hands into his pockets. He frowned. Nyma had completely slipped from his mind and he felt lighter than he had in weeks, like he could fly. A small green blur caught his vision to his right.

"Lance! I found Battle of The Galaxies III and we're going back to the dorm to try it out!"

"Awesome! I am so going to beat your sassy gremlin ass in this!" Lance smirked, taking the box from them and holding it up to fo his face to examine.

Pidge pfted, "No way, I bet I will win against both you and Hunk!"

It occurred to Lance that it was indeed a Saturday and neither of them had classes all day. Only Hunk had to finish shopping for Shay's birthday coming up, but after that they were free for the rest lf the day. "We'll see."

Pidge raised an eyebrow as they started to walk. "Oh yeah, I see you met Keith. You seemed like you were flirting? Hmm?"

Lance nearly exploded. "I did not!"

Pidge winked at him, and repeated, "We'll see, Lance. I hear Keith is into tall guys."

He would like it to go down that he groaned, not whined- don't believe what Pidge said. So yeah, Lance stood by what he had said- he blamed Pidge.


End file.
